Preview: QR Code Art Show

Wednesday

Aug 31, 2011 at 12:01 AMSep 1, 2011 at 8:21 PM

The ways in which the internet's web of influence has touched the art world - and everything else, really - are countless. It's even created its own mediums, like graphics interchange formats, or GIFs, which have grown up from the Dancing Baby to true works of art (check out a GIF artist named Jaime Martinez, a favorite of singer M.I.A.).

The ways in which the internet's web of influence has touched the art world - and everything else, really - are countless. It's even created its own mediums, like graphics interchange formats, or GIFs, which have grown up from the Dancing Baby to true works of art (check out a GIF artist named Jaime Martinez, a favorite of singer M.I.A.).

At this weekend's Gallery Hop and other September events like Art al Fresco and Independents' Day, the arts group will set up wooden stands with QR codes on them. (QR codes are those black and white squares that look like scrambled bar codes.) Viewers can scan them into their smartphones to be directed to one of 25 separate web pages showing different artwork.

"The whole purpose of it is to show the interaction between technology and art and show how technology can be used as a sales tool for artists," said Adam Brouillette, executive director of Wonderland.

At Gallery Hop, all of the online art the QR codes link to will be available for purchase as poster-size prints.

"It's kind of a unique way for the artist and viewer to interact," Brouillette said. "We save them the cost of framing. We won't have any at Gallery Hop, but less traditional artists, like video and installation artists, we're not opposed to that. The code could link to a YouTube video. It's not something we can sell, but it's more about being an opportunity to show their work to the public."

Brouillette compared the QR Code Art Show to Wonderland's food cart event last year, saying he expects the QR-to-art format to become more common in the local arts community after the show.

"We don't feel ownership over something like this, but we want to get the ideas out there," he said. "This is a great sales tool for artists. It's a cheap and effective way of promoting. Any time a free technology is there, it ends up being a useful tool. We just wanted to find a way to expose QR technology to the arts community and to the public."

With three sizes of the art available for $15 and $25, and 70 percent of the sales going back to the artists, Wonderland hopes everyone will win from the exposure.